mental healthNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94mental healthSun, 06 Nov 2016 04:51:12 +0000mental healthhttp://wlrn.org
Elissa Nadworny There's a perception that children don't kill themselves, but that's just not true. A new report shows that, for the first time, suicide rates for U.S. middle school students have surpassed the rate of death by car crashes.The suicide rate among youngsters ages 10 to 14 has been steadily rising, and doubled in the U.S. from 2007 to 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014, 425 young people 10 to 14 years of age died by suicide.We've been reporting about the role that schools and school staff play in addressing students' mental health."Kids spend a lot of time at school ... it's where they live their lives," says David Jobes, who heads the Suicide Prevention Lab at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. "Suicide prevention has been focused on schools for a long time because it's a place where kids are and where a lot of problems can manifest."Many educators don't feel comfortable talking about suicide, or often don't know what to do or say when aMiddle School Suicides Reach An All-Time Highhttp://wlrn.org/post/middle-school-suicides-reach-all-time-high
76865 as http://wlrn.orgFri, 04 Nov 2016 15:21:00 +0000Middle School Suicides Reach An All-Time HighTeresa FrontadoPointing to a need for "expedited consideration," the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to take up a dispute about whether judges should be allowed to hold hearings by videoconference in cases involving the involuntary commitment of mentally ill people under the state's "Baker Act." The decision came less than two weeks after Kathleen Smith, the public defender in Southwest Florida's 20th Judicial Circuit, filed a notice on Oct. 14 asking the Supreme Court to take up the issue. Justices also scheduled oral arguments for Feb. 7. The dispute stems from a decision in Lee County for a judge and a magistrate to no longer travel to receiving facilities to hold evidentiary hearings about whether patients should be involuntarily committed, according to a Sept. 28 ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal. The decision meant hearings would instead be held by videoconference. Attorneys for patients filed a legal challenge, arguing that the hearings should be held in person instead ofFlorida Justices Will Quickly Take Up Baker Act Casehttp://wlrn.org/post/florida-justices-will-quickly-take-baker-act-case
76429 as http://wlrn.orgFri, 28 Oct 2016 15:20:43 +0000Florida Justices Will Quickly Take Up Baker Act CaseBridget O'BrienThis week on The Florida Roundup... On Thursday, Governor Rick Scott announced that at least five people had contracted the Zika virus in Miami's Little River neighborhood. Now, there's a new Zika zone in the county, between Northwest 79th and 63rd Streets from Northwest 10th Avenue to North Miami Avenue. We get the latest from WLRN's health reporter Sammy Mack. Listen here: Also, three teenagers in Broward County were taken into custody for potentially threatening the lives of other high school students. One of those teens had a terror journal in which he bragged about becoming the most famous mass shooter in U.S. history. We examine the question of campus safety in public schools with the Sun-Sentinel's Tonya Alanez. Listen here: Plus, we look at relief efforts in Haiti after Hurricane Matthew's devastation. Joining us is Univison's David Adams. Listen here: The Florida Roundup: Miami's New Zika Zone, Campus Safety In Public Schools & Haiti Reliefhttp://wlrn.org/post/florida-roundup-miamis-new-zika-zone-campus-safety-public-schools-haiti-relief
75708 as http://wlrn.orgSun, 16 Oct 2016 21:47:59 +0000Jenny GoldThis story is part of our NPR Ed series on mental health in schools.In the waning days of summer vacation, Sydney and Laney are enjoying their final moments of freedom flipping over a high bar at a playground close by their house in Spartanburg, S.C."You've got to pull your hips into the bar," says their mom, Selena, motioning to the girls, "you've got to kick up like that!""I tried to kick!" Laney says indignantly. "I did this – you told me not to stick out!"Both girls have been diagnosed with mental health disorders. Sydney, who's 15, with bipolar disorder, and Laney, who's 8, with a similar illness called Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. We're not using their last names to protect the girls' privacy.School has been a real challenge for Sydney and Laney because of their mental health issues. That's not unusual. One in five children suffer in their mental health: anxiety, difficulty focusing and social challenges.As we've been reporting this month, many schools don't have theSchools And Mental Health: When The Parent Has To Take Chargehttp://wlrn.org/post/schools-and-mental-health-when-parent-has-take-charge
74423 as http://wlrn.orgFri, 16 Sep 2016 10:30:00 +0000Schools And Mental Health: When The Parent Has To Take ChargeNadege GreenThis month two black men, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling were shot and killed by police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana. The trauma of those events can be seen and felt in black communities around the country. Soul Sisters leadership collective is a Miami nonprofit helping to address the mental health consequences after police–involved shootings. Tanisha Douglas is co-founder of the collective and a social worker and she helped create spaces in South Florida, for people, specifically black people, to work out how they were feeling after these killings. Douglas was in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, leading healing sessions and she spoke to WLRN's Nadege Green. Below is a condensed version of their conversation on why these spaces are necessary. After these shootings happened ,what were you seeing in South Florida that made you want to put together a community space for healing? One of the members of our Soul Sisters youth board saw the need. When I looked around, I saw the youthHealing Spaces For Racial Trauma After Police Involved Shootingshttp://wlrn.org/post/healing-spaces-racial-trauma-after-police-involved-shootings
71196 as http://wlrn.orgFri, 15 Jul 2016 10:52:04 +0000Healing Spaces For Racial Trauma After Police Involved ShootingsMichal KranzActivists have been calling for Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle to bring charges against two prison guards accused of torturing and killing schizophrenic inmate Darren Rainey at Dade Correctional Institution four years ago. The state attorney's office says an investigation is still on-going, citing a desire to be thorough. Activists say that the realities facing mentally ill people in Florida's prisons are due to a lack of funding and oversight. Advocate Amy McClellan said that after mental health hospitals closed in the 1950s prisons became flooded with ill inmates, thus making the prisons the primary care centers for the mentally ill. She says Florida hasn’t filled the gap in care since then. “Our state is 49th or 50th in the country in terms of per capita spending on mental health services,” said McClellan. McClellan was at a protest held last Thursday in front of the state attorney’s office in Miami on the anniversary of the death of Rainey, a 50-year-oldDarren Rainey Case Highlights Culture Of Abuse Against Mentally Ill Inmateshttp://wlrn.org/post/darren-rainey-case-highlights-culture-abuse-against-mentally-ill-inmates
70314 as http://wlrn.orgWed, 29 Jun 2016 02:42:07 +0000Darren Rainey Case Highlights Culture Of Abuse Against Mentally Ill InmatesSammy MackNote: This interview was first published in December 2015. Leonora LaPeter Anton and her colleagues were awarded a Pulitzer Prize this week for their investigation. Florida legislators have cut $100 million from the state’s mental health budget since 2009—and now an investigative series, “Insane. Invisible. In Danger.” by two Florida newspapers details how those cuts have put patients and staff in harm’s way. Health News Florida spoke with the Tampa Bay Times’ Leonora LaPeter Anton, one of the reporters who spent more than a year looking into Florida’s mental hospitals. You can hear the conversation about what this has meant for patients in these facilities here: Anton also talked about the responses from staff and other stakeholders in Florida’s troubled mental hospitals: What have you heard from employees of these facilities about what they need? A lot of them told us they were afraid to do their jobs. In fact, in the wake of the series we've heard from tons of employees who have A Conversation About Florida’s Troubled Mental Hospitals: “Insane. Invisible. In Danger.”http://wlrn.org/post/conversation-about-florida-s-troubled-mental-hospitals-insane-invisible-danger
60645 as http://wlrn.orgWed, 20 Apr 2016 01:20:15 +0000 A Conversation About Florida’s Troubled Mental Hospitals: “Insane. Invisible. In Danger.”Carol GentryAn outpatient treatment for severely depressed patients who get no relief from drugs or talk therapy is becoming increasingly available and affordable.People Fighting Depression Discover Little-Known Treatment http://wlrn.org/post/people-fighting-depression-discover-little-known-treatment
64730 as http://wlrn.orgFri, 04 Mar 2016 15:27:33 +0000People Fighting Depression Discover Little-Known Treatment Ariana MatosMore data has been released from the annual Sunshine State Survey.This time, it shows that 85 percent of Floridians want people buying a gun or getting a gun license to get mental health screenings first.According to survey director Susan MacManus, almost all Floridians agree on this issue.“This is probably the most solid and most consensual opinion that we've seen in virtually the entire Sunshine State Survey,” she said.This fifth annual survey of Floridians also shows that women were most in favor of the screenings.MacManus said this information highlights how Floridians are linking mental health and recent mass shootings.“When the perpetrator or the accused is finally captured and you peel back, what do you see almost always?” she asked. “There is a link to some kind of mental health problem.”Only 3 percent of the 1,200 adults surveyed had no opinion on this issue. Copyright 2015 WUSF-FM. To see more, visit http://www.wusf.usf.edu/.Mental Health Screenings A Must For Gun-Toting Floridianshttp://wlrn.org/post/mental-health-screenings-must-gun-toting-floridians
58236 as http://wlrn.orgThu, 22 Oct 2015 16:40:23 +0000Mental Health Screenings A Must For Gun-Toting FloridiansNancy Klingener The Florida Keys has a national reputation for being laid back and carefree — margaritaville. But Monroe County, which encompasses the island chain, has the state's highest suicide rate. This year, a group of volunteers is working to change that. On Thursday, they're holding the first Out of the Darkness walk in the Keys, to raise money and awareness about suicide prevention. The walk starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Monroe County Sheriff's Office on Stock Island. By Tuesday, more than 200 people had registered for the event and it had exceeded its $25,000 fundraising goal. The money will go to help train police officers, including dispatchers, about how to talk to people who may be considering a suicide attempt, said Mary Lou Hoover, one of the volunteers. Just in the last eight weeks, 10 people in the Lower Keys have committed suicide, she said. "They were young people, vibrant — shining stars," she said. The Keys has a "perfect storm" of people who are vulnerable to suicide attempts, she Keys Holds First Suicide Prevention Walkhttp://wlrn.org/post/keys-holds-first-suicide-prevention-walk
55936 as http://wlrn.orgTue, 08 Sep 2015 19:22:59 +0000 Keys Holds First Suicide Prevention WalkGina JordanA major overhaul of the state’s mental health system died when the Florida Legislature adjourned early. Both chambers seemed ready to revamp the delivery of mental health and substance abuse services. The bill’s main focus was changing the way those services are administered in order to better coordinate care among agencies. The Senate passed its version of the bill and sent it to the House. The House, on what turned out to be its final day in session, made changes to the Senate bill. Afterward, Representative Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart) hailed the overall legislation. “We’re going to make the most significant changes in mental health and substance abuse since the Baker Act was passed 41 years ago,” Harrell said. “This is a huge initiative, and it’s a well thought out bill. It’s a compromise bill between the House and the Senate.” Unfortunately for bill supporters, the House made changes to the bill right before leaving town -- leaving its amended fate to the Senate. The sponsor of theMental Health Overhaul Falls Victim To Early Session Endhttp://wlrn.org/post/mental-health-overhaul-falls-victim-early-session-end
49714 as http://wlrn.orgWed, 06 May 2015 01:51:07 +0000Mental Health Overhaul Falls Victim To Early Session EndDiego Saldaña-RojasMiami-­Dade County has the largest percentage of individuals with serious mental illnesses among all urban areas in the U.S., according to data from the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court. The figures led the psychiatry department at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine and the Miami branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness to host the Stop the Stigma conference. The event, held Saturday at UM's hospital, aimed to "stop the sitgma" of mental illnesses. Pete Earley is a longtime journalist and former Washington Post reporter. His son Kevin was arrested after breaking into a house during a psychotic episode in Virginia. Earley couldn't get his son proper care because Kevin was not deemed an imminent danger to himself or his father. But Kevin was charged with felonies for the break-in. So his father started investigating the criminal justice system and how it treats mentally ill people. “I was so frustrated. Virginia law had kept him from getting help when he neededMental Health Conference Points To Flaws In Criminal Justice Systemhttp://wlrn.org/post/mental-health-conference-points-flaws-criminal-justice-system
49692 as http://wlrn.orgTue, 05 May 2015 22:01:59 +0000Mental Health Conference Points To Flaws In Criminal Justice SystemNadege GreenThe Miami-Dade Crisis Intervention Team trains police officers in Miami-Dade and Broward counties on how to respond to calls that involve someone who is mentally ill. The CIT had trained more than 4,500 police officers across 35 police departments. In February, 25-year-old Lavall Hall was killed by a Miami Gardens police officer. He suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Police say Hall was carrying a broom and attacked two officers. The case remains under investigation. A Miami Gardens police spokesman said the responding officers in Hall's case were trained on how to handle calls involving people with mental illness. The 40-hour CIT mental health training course is not mandatory for all police officers. Each department sets its own rules. Habsi Kaba is a training coordinator with the CIT. Below are excerpts of her interview with WLRN. What does the CIT police training look like? We will spend an entire day on non-verbal and verbal techniques and intervention. How toTraining South Florida Police Officers In Mental Healthhttp://wlrn.org/post/training-south-florida-police-officers-mental-health
49243 as http://wlrn.orgTue, 28 Apr 2015 08:19:39 +0000Training South Florida Police Officers In Mental HealthNadege Green The family of a mentally ill man who was killed by a Miami Gardens police officer in February released the video of the shooting to the media Wednesday at a press conference. The family says police were called on Feb. 15th because Lavall Hall was wielding a straw broom outside his house. They needed help to get him to a mental health hospital. Police ended up killing Hall. Moments Up To The Shooting The police dash camera video opens with a police cruiser pulling up to Hall’s home at 4:55 a.m. His mom, Catherine Daniels, called the police. In the video, it’s still dark out. Streetlights and the patrol cars’ flashing red and blue lights illuminate the streets. An officer asks Daniels if she knows where he can find her son. Parts of the conversation are hard to make out. But Daniels clearly tells the officers not to hurt her son. “ I’m scared,” she says. “Just don’t hurt my child please.” The officer says “OK.” The police cruiser takes off looking for Hall. At 4:56 a.m., the officerFamily Releases Video Of Mentally Ill Man Killed By Miami Gardens Policehttp://wlrn.org/post/family-releases-video-mentally-ill-man-killed-miami-gardens-police
48293 as http://wlrn.orgThu, 09 Apr 2015 06:12:28 +0000Family Releases Video Of Mentally Ill Man Killed By Miami Gardens PoliceNadege Green Catherine Daniels blames herself for her son’s death. The incident started around 4:30 in the morning. Daniels says her 25-year old son was having “an episode.” He was schizophrenic and bipolar. On the morning of Feb 15, he was waving around a broom and pacing in front of their pink home at 19157 NW Third Ave. in Miami Gardens. When she told him to come inside--he charged at her. Daniels says she called Miami Gardens police around 5 a.m. She told the two officers who responded, Peter Ehrlich and Eddo Trimino, her son was mentally ill. “He was having an episode,” she says. “I didn’t know they were going to kill my baby.” Daniels says she had a lot of trust in the police. She knew she needed them to intervene. A week before he was killed, two Miami Gardens officers responded to her home during another one of Hall’s episodes and helped her get him into a hospital. “I don’t trust them no more,” she says. The shooting prompted outrage and raised questions over whether police had to killWitnesses: Mentally Ill Man Did Not Have A Broomstick When Miami Gardens Police Killed Himhttp://wlrn.org/post/witnesses-mentally-ill-man-did-not-have-broomstick-when-miami-gardens-police-killed-him
47992 as http://wlrn.orgFri, 03 Apr 2015 01:50:04 +0000Witnesses: Mentally Ill Man Did Not Have A Broomstick When Miami Gardens Police Killed Him08/05/14 - Tuesday’s Topical Currents delves into a mother’s heart-wrenching story of her daughter’s suicide…her unimaginable and all-consuming grief, her guilt, and her struggle to find peace. Joan E. Childs, a psychotherapist herself, has written Why Did She Jump: My Daughter’s Battle with Bipolar Disorder. It’s an intimate and uncompromising account of the tragedy and lifts the veil of shame and secrecy surrounding bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. Please join us for Topical Currents, Tuesday at 1pm. www.joanechilds.com http://youtu.be/S4VXRP9hH0M?list=UUUIgTdAgY2n0LgVzIwE2FewShame And Secrecy Surrounding Bipolar Disorder And Other Mental Illnesseshttp://wlrn.org/post/shame-and-secrecy-surrounding-bipolar-disorder-and-other-mental-illnesses
36681 as http://wlrn.orgTue, 05 Aug 2014 17:00:00 +0000Shame And Secrecy Surrounding Bipolar Disorder And Other Mental IllnessesWilson Sayre This month, Florida became the first state to offer a Medicaid plan dedicated to people who are diagnosed with severe mental health disorders. It’s part of a larger move by the state’s Medicaid officials to move coverage towards a managed care system. It means one organization takes care of and coordinates all of a person’s health care needs: no more separate dental, vision, and internal medicine plans. Mental health issues are almost twice as prevalent among Medicaid recipients than in the general population. For people with severe mental health diagnosis like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression, this kind of specialized care for Medicaid recipients is an especially big move. Beth Kidder, deputy secretary for Medicaid operations in Florida, explains: “People with severe mental illness tend to have many more health problems,” she says. “So if you are treating their mental illness separately and not looking at their physical illness, those two interact with each other.”Florida First In Medicaid Coverage For Mentally Illhttp://wlrn.org/post/florida-first-medicaid-coverage-mentally-ill
35603 as http://wlrn.orgWed, 16 Jul 2014 19:22:45 +0000Florida First In Medicaid Coverage For Mentally IllWilson Sayre Almost two years ago, Darren Rainey was found dead in a scalding-hot shower at Dade Correctional Institution. Despite several accounts that the 50-year-old, mentally ill inmate’s death was the result of abuse, no one has been held accountable, nor has the medical examiner completed an autopsy. George Mallinckrodt was a psychotherapist who counseled inmates at Dade Correctional. He has filed a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice regarding Rainey’s death. Mallinckrodt talked with me as former employee about the culture of abuse he saw -- and fought -- at the prison.Below is an edited version of our conversation.What did you see while working at the prison?I’ve seen trash-talking that maybe went over the line [but] when I was new and fresh into my prison experience… I blew it off. Then, as I became more attuned to inmate abuse, I realized [it] wasn’t just somebody getting beaten. I did a number of incidence reports on guards that would go by an inmate’s cell and tormentIs There A Culture Of Abuse At Dade Correctional?http://wlrn.org/post/there-culture-abuse-dade-correctional
32777 as http://wlrn.orgFri, 23 May 2014 14:22:41 +0000Is There A Culture Of Abuse At Dade Correctional? 04/15/14 - Tuesday’s Topical Currents looks at the epidemic of depression. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, major depressive disorder affects 6.7% of American adults, yet it’s root cause is little understood by scientists and the general population. We’ll speak with University of South Florida Professor and Psychologist, Jonathan Rottenberg who offers a bold new account of why depression endures. He’s written THE DEPTHS: THE EVOLUTIONARY ORIGINS OF THE DEPRESSION EPIDEMIC. That’s Topical Currents Tuesday at 1pm. http://www.psychologytoday.com/experts/jonathan-rottenberg-phdhttps://twitter.com/JonRottenberghttps://www.facebook.com/charting.the.depthsEvolutionary Origins Of The Depression Epidemichttp://wlrn.org/post/evolutionary-origins-depression-epidemic
30829 as http://wlrn.orgTue, 15 Apr 2014 17:00:00 +0000Evolutionary Origins Of The Depression EpidemicChristine DiMattei When 63-year-old Bobby White served as an infantryman in Vietnam in the late 1960s, he and his fellow African-American soldiers had a handshake ritual they called "The Dap." "It was sort of amazing," White says. "Sometimes the guys touched each other's hands, their arms, with a charismatic sort of flair. And sometimes it would go on for a minute to five minutes, just to show appreciation that you, as another brother serving in the war, we are connected to each other." White, who lives in Miramar, is the Commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8195 in West Park, made up mostly of African-Americans. He's also editor of "Post 8195: Black Soldiers Tell Their Vietnam Stories," an autobiographical anthology penned by 23 members of the VFW Post. The stories in the book bear witness to the cruelty and brutality seen by most servicemen in the Vietnam War, but they also highlight the unique conflicts confronted by virtually every black soldier. "During that time, we were fighting a war inBlack South Florida Vets Pen Book Of Vietnam's 'Untold Stories'http://wlrn.org/post/black-south-florida-vets-pen-book-vietnams-untold-stories
23424 as http://wlrn.orgTue, 12 Nov 2013 21:14:00 +0000Black South Florida Vets Pen Book Of Vietnam's 'Untold Stories'